Do Digital Orientations Enhance Environmental Sustainability Performance in Chinese Listed Firms? The Moderating Role of Intellectual Capital

This study investigates the influence of digital orientation on environmental sustainability performance in Chinese A-share listed firms, with a focus on the moderating role of intellectual capital (IC). Drawing on the natural-resource-based view (NRBV), we operationalize digital orientation using four dimensions: digital technology scope, digital capabilities, digital ecosystem coordination, and digital architecture configuration. Using a comprehensive panel dataset of 27,043 firm-year observations from 2011 to 2021, the study finds that digital orientation significantly enhances environmental sustainability, particularly through technology scope and coordination. The moderating analysis reveals that capital employed efficiency (CEE) and structural capital efficiency (SCE) positively strengthen this relationship, while human capital efficiency (HCE) has a negative moderating effect, likely due to short-term profit prioritization. Robustness checks with Bloomberg ESG scores and exclusion of volatile years confirm the reliability of the results. This study contributes to digital sustainability literature by disentangling digital orientation dimensions and demonstrating how internal resources such as IC shape firms’ ability to align digital strategies with environmental goals.